"So you're telling me that, in order for you to not brutally mutilate me to death, I'll have to work for you and do some risky, nasty jobs during the tournament, yes ?"

"Mm, I don't quite remember saying the last bit of your sentence but sure ! As long as you're willing, I'll make you do some very risky, nasty tasks too !"

Han Xuhan silently tried to delve into the flow of events around himself for a few seconds . Here he was, just an average, weak cultivator trying to get by, constantly being hounded by schemes after schemes and coincidences far too deadly to ignore...and speaking of coincidences...

Turning to look at sect master Xuan Zi, Xuhan asked the questions that had been bothering him for the last three minutes .

"Sect master, what authority does this person have over our sect that he can freely threaten a model disciple like myself in front of you ? Why is he here ? And why is he targeting me ?"

Fang Xie turned his gaze over toward the sect master with an wide grin on his face . Xuan Zi pursed his lips and answered, "I think you know the answers to the last two questions, disciple . After all, you've personally investigated this man just a while ago, did you not ? Quit pretending you don't know who Fang Xie is ."

With a pause, Xuhan replied in full honesty, "but I really don't know who this person is apart from his name and the fact that he acts like a retard a hundred-and-twenty percent of the time ."

Xuan Zi gave him a sour look, prompting Xuhan to add a few more sentences .

"Yes, I've read the report on him . But that's all it said ! That he hangs around this small town at the edge of the sect and acts crazy ; that was it !" Xuhan decided to come clean, realizing that it was futile to keep up the facade of cluelessness . Xuan Zi clearly knew he was the guy investigating Fang Xie .

"I distinctly remember writing about his affiliation with our sect in the report, disciple ."

"Goddammit minions- wait, you wrote the report, sect master ?" Xuhan asked, dumbfounded .

"And your minions were the ones who tried to dupe me after I gave it to them, yes Xuhan ."

". . ."

"I didn't know sect-life ever got this interesting, damn ! This is more convoluted than my last heavenly tribulation ." Fang Xie muttered to himself as he watched their interaction .

"Okay, but you didn't answer my first question, sect master . What authority does this Fang Xie have over our sect ? My minions must have skipped that part of the report ."

"I'm an inspector from the celestial realm, and I can reduce this entire pathetic excuse of a sect to ashes with a single message to my higher ups, that's all you need to know ," Fang Xie cut in and said .

"Fang Xie, don't overstep your boundaries !" Xuan Zi suddenly stood up and slammed his foot on the ground furiously , creating a faint tremor throughout the mountain peak .

All three of them fell silent following the aftershocks of Xuan Zi's stomp . In the end, it was the sect master him0self who sat back down, his face a mask of regrets .

"My apologies, let us continue with the conversation ."

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Seizing the chance, Xuhan tried to take control of the flow of their conversation in order to dig out some precious info .

"So uh, what's this celestial realm ?"

Xuan Zi answered him after a moment of silent contemplation . "The celestial realm is something beyond your scope of comprehension for now . Just look at the sky above . In a general sense, that's where the celestial realm is . Once you've become a bit more powerful, you'll slowly begin to understand principles of this universe in a much deeper way . That'd be the perfect time to explore these things . Right now, all you need to know that the celestial realm is a vast world full of very powerful beings . And Fang Xie , is an emissary of sorts from a certain place in there, here to inspect and watch over our planet temporarily ."

Finishing his explanation, Xuan Zi observed Xuhan expectantly, as if hoping to see some sort of a dramatic reaction . Han Xuhan, trying to go with the flow, decided to act extremely surprised and curious about the whole issue by widening his eyes and mouth for a full ten seconds . While it would have been more in line with his established public image to curiously ask more about the fabled, mysterious celestial realm, Xuhan didn't quite have the luxury to perfect his act at the moment .

In his mind, he desperately tried to recall the basic astrophysics he had learnt in the mortal world . It was a common knowledge that their planet was a round spherical object in a vast space full of similar objects spinning in various trajectories . But that's as far as it went in regards of evidential facts . The rest after that were just wild theories after theories, similar to earth's history during the middle ages . It seemed that the cultivators were far more advanced when it came to these sort of knowledge . Maybe cultivators from this planet had even ventured outside somehow after becoming powerful enough . It fell directly into another typical xianxia cliche . So Xuhan was able to draw up a rough picture quite fast .

". . .Uh, sect master, I can't help but be curious. . . Why am I being dragged into this entire issue ? I'm a nobody , a weak cultivator at the lowest possible power level on this planet . The only interaction I've ever had with this cra-erm senior Fang Xie over here was when I went to visit my hometown . So why am I being targeted ?"

Xuan Zi looked slightly caught off guard by his lack of evident curiosity towards the celestial realm . Nevertheless, he gestured toward Fang Xie, inviting him to speak in his stead .

"Young man, the moment I saw you for the first time, I felt my heart clench and shake uncontrollably-"

"Oh ."

"It was a strange feeling, a novelty of sorts . I couldn't even begin to unravel the twisted knots of emotions roiling through me, yet the intensity of those emotions were like torrents of the gravitational pull trying to drown and implode my dao heart-"

"Ah-"

"I knew not what had transpired between us in a past hidden from our sight or which strings of karma had bound us together . All I knew was-"

"This better not go down the way it appears to be. . ."

"That I really fucking hate you ."

"Thank the heavens !"

Han Xuhan patted his chest in relief . Hate ? He could deal with that , hah ! Back when they'd met for the first time, hadn't Fang Xie spouted the same bullcrap ? This guy really was a nutcase, or at least unnecessarily proficient at acting like one .

"Sect master, if he keeps being so unreasonable, how are we to trust the credibility of his current promises ?" This was the opening Xuhan had been looking for . The answer to this question would make many things clear, allowing him to draw up a scheme or two for the near future .

"Who told you you could trust my words, young man ? You sound like I actually gave you a choice there, haha !"

"Disciple, inspector Xie has recently experienced a major qi deviation during the most critical moment of his breakthrough, thus resulting into his current state . The only reason I can think of his animosity towards you is quite unlikely to be true . Just answer this question first . Are you absolutely sure that you've never met Fang Xie before your first meeting in your hometown ?" Xuan Zi asked, completely ignoring Fang Xie's very existence .

"Yes, I am ," Xuhan answered honestly .

"So am I , or I'd have solved this issue by now . Just because I lost my memories of the tribulation doesn't mean my real memories have been damaged . Old Zi, give me some face , will you ? Or are you going to side with those fogies in that old-farts-only council ?"

"In that case, the only reason I can think of lying underneath your ambiguous relationship with him is that you, my disciple, are somehow connected to Fang Xie's failure of heavenly tribulation ," Xuan Zi drew his conclusion, his finger pointed at Xuhan's face aggressively .